13/14 November: The Miller's Tale

1. Students turned in Canterbury Tales art projects and completed a self/group evaluation.

2. "The Miller's Tale" - lit term, vocabulary, questions, character descriptions, read...

Notes:

Literary Term - fabliau (pronounced fab lee oh)

• a comic anonymous tale from northeast France popular around the 13th century.
• Generally bawdy in nature
• Typical fabliaux (plural of fabliau) concern cuckolds, covetous clergy, and foolish peasants

Vocabulary (in addition to vocabulary/words to know handout)

• propriety – n. quality of being proper or fitting
• penchant – n. a strong liking; inclination
• depravity –n. corruption; wickedness
• magnum opus – n. great work of art or literature; masterpiece
• circumlocution – n. roundabout, indirect, lengthy way of expressing something.
• deign – v. condescend to do something thought to be slightly beneath one’s dignity
  

Prologue - separate handout. This is from The Rap Canterbury Tales. Questions:
How do the pilgrims feel about the knight’s tale?
What is the issue between the reeve and the miller?
Remember the “door” – this will show up again in the miller’s tale
What is the “warning” and its impact on audiences?

"The Miller's Tale" questions can be found in the previous post.

Character Descriptions (stick figures)
-Using the descriptions, draw physical attributes and accoutrements on Alison and Absalom.
-Using what you know about Nicholas and John, do the same for them.
-You may be more figurative and creative and deck Alison out in metaphors and similes found in the story rather than what she literally looks like.

For example: Absalom has curly hair, wears red tights, and is referred to as Alison's monkey (hence the ears and tail).